skin-deepadj.adv.
/ˌskɪnˈdiːp/, U.S. /ˌskɪnˈdip/ A. adj.
1. Penetrating no deeper than the skin; on the surface only; superficial, shallow.
a. As a proverbial limitation of beauty or occasionally a similar quality. Esp. in beauty is only skin-deep.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > slight > slight or superficial
superficialc1456
skin-deepa1613
hoverly1633
surfacy1815
tangential1825
smattery1895
a1613 T. Overbury Wife (1614) sig. B8v All the carnall Beautie of my wife, Is but skinne-deepe.
1687 R. Boyle Martyrdom Theodora (1703) iv. 49 Nor any of our sex ought to think skin-deep beauty as great a blessing, as 'tis an applauded one.
1725 A. Ramsay Gentle Shepherd iv. ii Beauty that's only skin deep Must fade like the gowans of May.
1741 S. Richardson Pamela IV. lx. 400 Beauty is but a specious..Recommendation, a mere skin-deep Perfection.
1854 H. Spencer Personal Beauty in Ess. (1891) II. 394 The saying that beauty is but skin-deep, is but a skin-deep saying.
1869 A. Maclaren Serm. preached in Manch. 2nd Ser. v. 79 Moses' face shone, but the lustre was but skin deep.
1937 J. P. Marquand Late George Apley xi. 121 You have shown the good sense, too, to realize that beauty is only skin deep and that there are more important elements in the holy bond of matrimony.
1965 W. Lamb Posture & Gesture iii. 41 That the puppet-like pin-up girl's beauty is only skin deep is often revealed the moment she opens her mouth.
2004 Daily Tel. 13 July 24/8 Eliminating the first four contestants tonight, will she acknowledge that beauty's merely skin-deep and get a grip on the remaining love-handles?
b. Of wounds, cuts, etc. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > vertical extent > shallowness > [adjective] > extending short distance from surface or front > to the depth of the skin only
skin-deep1615
1615 T. Overbury et al. New & Choise Characters with Wife (6th impr.) sig. Kv His wounds are seldome aboue skin deepe.
1634 Bp. J. Hall Contempl. Hist. New Test. (STC 12640.7) i. 249 The stabs of an Enemy cannot be so grievous as the skin-deep wounds of a Disciple.
1714 D. Turner De Morbis Cutaneis ix. 256 If the Skin-deep Wound..rankles, as the common People express themselves, or festers..it is then to be treated as a simple Ulcer or Excoriation.
1753 R. Colborne Plain Eng. Dispensatory 235/2 Besides the healing skin-deep Wounds, as well as galled Places, Diachlyon will ripen and forward many kind of Swellings.
1805 T. Jefferson Writings (1830) IV. 30 The skin-deep scratches, which we can make or find on the surface of the earth.
1841 R. W. Emerson Method Nature in Wks. (1906) II. 222 But the thunder is a surface phenomenon, makes a skin-deep cut.
1877 A. B. Edwards Thousand Miles up Nile xix. 566 As for his wounds, they were literally skin-deep.
1938 Sci. News Let. 33 62/3 The victims of the vampire bat do not seem to be particularly disturbed by the bats feeding on them... The wounds are only skin-deep.
1950 Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gaz. 13 Oct. 1/5 McCarney received a two-inch, skin-deep cut on his right wrist during the scuffle.
2000 T. Carroll Colony xii. 144 Antentius let out a gasp and fell back, but the wound was only skin deep.
2. figurative. Not deep or lasting; not as important or thorough as appears on the surface; not true or genuine. Cf. superficial adj. 4, 2, 7.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > appearance or aspect > [adjective] > seeming or apparent
huedc1000
showing?c1400
seemlya1450
apparissaunt1485
superficial1616
specious1617
semblable1627
apparent1645
representative1646
skin-deep1653
appearing1656
seemingly1725
semblative1814
semblant1840
1653 R. Harford in J. Everard Some Gospel-treasures Opened To Rdr. sig. (a2)v They brought him to his haven, home and rest, even into that ever blessed union and communion with God, which before was but skin-deep learning and Philosophy.
1657 J. Trapp Comm. Psalms xvi. 9 Their joy is but skin-deep.
1677 A. Horneck Great Law Consideration (1704) vii. 399 A few slight and skin-deep reflexions.
a1732 T. Boston Memoirs (1776) xii. 457 Denoting the skin-deep joy of ungodly men.
1766 J. Fordyce Serm. Young Women II. x. 176 Skin-deep and short-lived allurements.
1825 Countess Granville Lett. (1894) I. 362 The little faults are all skin-deep, and she is excellent.
1889 F. E. Gretton Memory's Harkback 251 The effect upon the hearers was, after all, but skin-deep.
1918 Trans. Royal Hist. Soc. 4 1 199 He fell under the influence of the drunken old reprobate Sir H. Morgan, whose repentance of his buccaneering past seemed to have been only skin-deep.
1963 Times 11 July 13/6 Some of it is reminiscent of good music-hall stuff, but Mr. Kishon's humour is more than skin deep.
2004 J. Denby Billie Morgan xxiii. 197 All that you-go-girl ditzy Miss Pink malarkey is only skin deep with her, an amusement.
B. adv.
To the depth of the skin; to a superficial extent; superficially, shallowly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > surface > [adverb] > only
skin-deep1633
the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adverb] > to a small extent or slightly > slightly or superficially
superficially?a1425
skin-deep1633
surfacely1863
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > vertical extent > shallowness > [adverb] > to depth of skin only
skin-deep1633
1633 P. Fletcher Purple Island vii. xiv. 88 Caro, cursed damme of sinne,..Yet seems (skin-deep) most fair.
1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 218 They have little horns which grow but skin-deep, mooving them as their ears.
1702 R. Steele Funeral ii. 19 When I know her further than Skin-deep, I'll tell you more of my mind.
1796 E. Burke Two Lett. Peace Regicide Directory France in Wks. (1842) II. 288 Stings that have penetrated more than skin-deep into my mind.
1839 W. S. Landor Andrea of Hungary i. iii, in Poems, Dialogues in Verse & Epigrams (1892) I. 109 No taint of learning eat skin-deep into me!
1864 C. Kingsley Roman & Teuton iv. 111 He was but a wild man of the woods..polished over skin-deep with Roman civilization.
1884 Times 18 Aug. 2/6 An antiquarian visitor would scarcely have the opportunity of going skin-deep in his examination.
1949 Philos. Rev. 58 348 Behaviorism by definition only goes skin deep and sees men as superficies walking.
1989 A. T. Scull Social Order/Mental Disorder x. 261 Reform on occasion did not even penetrate skin deep, as with the changeover from striped convict uniforms to more ordinary dress.
2000 Wired Apr. 56 Cut more than skin-deep, the injured flesh mends itself with scar tissue, a grow-quick layer that's stiff and fragile.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.adv.a1613